To get results you need to fund them

From: Jean Lorriman, Huddersfield Over Fifties Forum.

WHAT a fabulous Olympic Games for Team GB! We were 15th in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 so we can be justifiably proud of all our dedicated athletes.

Yet I am sure the athletes of 2008 were just as dedicated, so why were the results so outstanding for such a small island? The answer is simple – money! This has poured in from various sources, Government, lottery funding, private sector and funding reward systems. Much of this need stemmed from the toe-curling embarrassment in Atlanta in 1996.

Thus it has been addressed and we are bathed in success. Not so the predictions for the Rio Paralympics which are soon to follow – they seem to have been deemed a failure before they have begun.

I enjoy the Paralympics even more than the Olympics as people have overcome so much to become outstanding athletes. The answer is again money from sponsorships, government and lottery awards. On an even wider stage we see the same problem with our NHS as A&E units all over the country are combined or closed down. Councils are receiving less government money and services once taken for granted are being discarded leaving people – especially the elderly feeling helpless and disbanded.

Let’s hope that the kind of money channelled into the Rio games can be input into the Paralympics, the NHS and services for those who need them. Theresa May, you are planning a glorious reception for our magnificent athletes and rightly so. No doubt your thoughts are already being turned towards Tokyo and repeated success in the Japanese capital but this is four years hence and it is likely you will still be Prime Minister. So turn your attention now ìnto giving the money where it is so desperately needed!

From: Colin Barker, Wakefield Road, Pontefract.

ALISTAIR and Jonny Brownlee, how on earth have they done it? How have two lads from Yorkshire managed to progress to this level?

How did they start, what made them decide to enter this gruelling feat? I, for one, can’t wait for their second book on the triathlon.